Implement encode/decode for list of strings

Q: Implement encode/decode for list of strings

This question evaluates a candidate's proficiency in string manipulation and serialization techniques, focusing on designing an invertible encode/decode scheme for lists of strings.

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Question

You are given a list of strings (may include digits and symbols). Implement two methods:

encode(List<String> input) -> String : converts the list into a single encoded string.
decode(String encoded) -> List<String> : converts the encoded string back into the original list.

Use the following encoding scheme: for each string s, append <len><s><sep> to the output, where <len> is the decimal length of s (number of characters), and <sep> is the character #.

Example:

Input: ["foo", "lis", "jljl", "12345678901"]

Lengths are 3, 3, 4, 11, so the encoded string is:

"3foo#3lis#4jljl#1112345678901#"

Implement both functions so that for any valid input list, decode(encode(input)) returns the original list.

Implement encode/decode for list of strings

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